


Between the Lines

by melissa13



Series: The Evolution of Soul Mates [1]
Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, General, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-03
Updated: 2013-01-16
Packaged: 2017-11-23 11:54:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/621845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melissa13/pseuds/melissa13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of connected one-shots that chronicles the growing relationship of Artemis and Wally throughout Season 1 of Young Justice and beyond. Most chapters either take place within episodes or somewhere in between.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Idol

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Soooo, I've been working up the courage to finally post this here on AO3, not just because this forum is filled with brilliant writers who's writing talents I find myself filled with envy over EVERY DAY, but because I also have been wanting to change the title of this story FOREVER and now I finally can! Anyway, I'm changing it (only here tho because I think my readers on ff.net would riot if I tried to change it there) from The Evolution of Soul Mates to the only slightly less corny title of Between the Lines. I'll probably just go ahead and post a chapter every day or two just to catch up. Anyway, I hope anyone who hasn't read this before will enjoy! And please feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think! :)

**DISCLAIMER: Unfortunately, none of these characters belong to me. If Wally West belonged to me, I would be the only one allowed to play with him ;-) Any dialogue or plot that looks familiar belongs to DC and Greg Weisman and other people who are not me.**

Chapter One: Idol

When she's old and grey, Artemis will still remember the moment when she first heard the name Kid Flash.

She was 13, a snarky, twig of a girl with too much hair and not enough common sense to know when to shut her mouth. She was home alone, as usual. With a mother in jail, a father who was as good as, and a sister who she hadn't seen in 4 years, she was used to having the apartment to herself. And she was perfectly fine with that. She didn't need anyone, dear old dad least of all, to take care of her. She could do that herself, thank you very much. If her father was there, he would probably just make her spar against him or do some other sort of weapons training, and she already had too many bruises that required explaining anytime she had gym class.

Not that any of the teachers at Gotham North Middle School cared.

She was making herself dinner when the report came on the news about a bank robbery in progress in Central City.

"This is Iris West-Allen reporting. We've just had word that Central City Savings Bank has been put on lockdown. According to the police, at exactly 3:05 PM, three armed men in black ski masks made their way into the bank and took all the civilians inside hostage. Stay tuned to GBS News for the latest developments."

Artemis quickly became engrossed in the story as she ate her dinner, especially when the robbers tried to make a break for it. Each of the three robbers had one hostage pulled close to them, with a gun trained to their head. As they inched closer to where their getaway car was, the lead crook shouted for the police to stay away from them, or they would blow the hostages brains out.

Artemis was so sure they were going to get away with the robbery when all of a sudden there was a red blur, and one of the hostages was gone. The next second there was a second blur, this time yellow, and another hostage had disappeared. The robbers looked around them uneasily, and the lead crook tightened his hold on the last hostage, a young woman of about 28. It was no use though. The red blur, the Flash, Artemis now realized, suddenly materialized in front of him, and quicker than lightning, knocked him out cold with one punch, freeing the hostage. The two accomplices seemed to get cold feet and turned to run away, but blocking their path was a boy dressed in yellow spandex with the Flash symbol on his chest. Surrounding him was half of the Central City police force.

"Going somewhere?" the boy asked, flashing them a smirk.

Artemis smirked. The boy hero had some spunk. She liked that. The police took all of the crooks into custody under the watchful eyes of Flash and apparently his new sidekick.

"Flash! Flash! GBS News. Can we get an interview?"

"Of course," the Flash said, strolling over to Iris West-Allen, the boy in yellow in tow. "Anything for my favorite reporter."

"Well, Flash, that sure was some rescue tonight," the reporter said. "Would you like to introduce your friend here to the world?"

"Sure," the Flash said. He rested a hand on the boy's shoulder. "This is my new sidekick, Kid Flash."

"Fastest boy alive," the young speedster said, puffing out his chest. He couldn't have been that much old than her, Artemis decided. His bright green eyes betrayed his excitement, even though his demeanor remained nonchalant. Artemis couldn't deny that he looked incredibly cute with his red hair all wind blown like it was.

"You seem awfully young, Kid," Iris said. "What made you want to start fighting crime?"

"As soon as I got my powers, I knew I wanted to use them to do good," Kid Flash explained, caught between looking at her and schmoozing at the camera. "I don't think you're ever too young to fight crime. Anyone can be a hero, no matter what their age."

He smiled at the lens, as if looking directly at her, and despite herself, Artemis felt a little flutter in her heart. It wasn't just what he looked like, though; it was what he was saying. His words spoke to something deep inside of her. Artemis wasn't stupid, she knew what her father was training her for, what he had been training Jade for before she left. But deep down, Artemis knew she was a good person. She didn't want to do harm, she wanted to do good. Like Kid Flash.

"Well, we've gotta run," Flash said. "But maybe you and I can finish this conversation later, over a cup of coffee?"

"Sorry, Flash," Iris said. "I happen to be very happily married."

"He's a lucky man," Flash told her, smiling like he didn't just get turned down on national television. Beside him, Kid Flash began cracking up, and his mentor elbowed him in the ribs so fast that Artemis wasn't even sure she had seen it. "Well, goodnight, folks! Come on, Kid."

With a wave to the camera, Kid Flash took off after his mentor. Iris West-Allen began speaking again, but there was a jingle of keys at the door, and Artemis dove for the remote to turn off the TV. She just managed to press Power when the door opened and her father's muscular form entered the apartment. He looked between her and the TV.

"What were you watching there, baby girl?"

"The news," she said. There was no point in lying. He would know. He always did. "There was an attempted bank heist in Central City this afternoon. They got caught."

Lawrence snorted, sticking his head into the refrigerator. "Amateurs."

He popped off the top of a beer bottle and took a long chug, eyeing her. Artemis didn't look away.

"Ready for training tonight?" he asked.

She nodded obediently, but she had a plan forming in her mind. "I was thinking…Maybe we could try archery again?"

* * *

Two years later, her mother was out of jail, and Artemis found herself suddenly free from her father's grasp for the first time in 6 years. No more training, no more tests, no more mental or emotional abuse. She was free to be what she had wanted to be so desperately since she first saw Kid Flash on the news. And she kept up with him the whole time too. She was watching when he and Flash took on Captain Zoom for what seemed like the 50th time. She was watching when he and the other sidekicks got to go to the Hall of Justice. Overtime, she had come to realize that more than admiring Kid Flash, she seemed to have developed a minor crush on him. Which was ridiculous because he was a superhero who didn't even know she existed and wouldn't have anything to do with her even if he did.

She had taken to patrolling her neighborhood with her bow and arrow. Her father had taught her well. Her bow was like an extension of her arm. Gotham's Dark Knight and his sidekick never really came up to the North Gotham area, so Artemis had taken it upon herself to keep her home turf as safe as she could. It was a relatively quiet night until she came upon a boy in a black t-shirt with an S on it, fighting off a crazy robot. Artemis knew that she should probably have let someone, anyone, else handle it, but she was stubborn and there wasn't anyone around.

Except for Robin and Kid Flash himself, she soon found out. Following the path of destruction left behind by the Superman wannabe, Artemis found herself at Gotham Academy. There she watched from nearby as Kid Flash and his friends tried to defeat the robot, which seemed to have all the powers of the Justice League. She tried to help but she was a bit preoccupied herself with the robot monkeys who had decided to attack her. One by one she got rid of them, until only a few were left. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash of yellow, and turned her attention to what was happening in the gym below her. What she saw almost made her heart stop.

Kid Flash was in the clutches of the robot who was slowly crushing the young speedster's windpipe. And just like that, all her father's training went out the window and Artemis panicked. She had to do something. It was Kid Flash. Ridiculous crush aside, he was practically her idol. In her mind, he stood for everything good in the world; for truth, justice, bravery and all that crap. She couldn't just let him be crushed to death while she stood there and did nothing. A robot monkey was crawling up her leg, so with one hand she reached back and grabbed an arrow, stabbing the monkey through the head with it in one fluid motion, before notching it and taking aim at the giant robot's head. She took a fraction of a second to focus, as any deviation meant she might hit Kid Flash himself, before she let the arrow fly.

It was straight and true, but the robot must have heard it coming as it phased so the arrow passed right through him. Artemis was disappointed, but realized that the robot's phasing allowed Kid Flash the opportunity to slip out of the robot's grasp. She gave herself a mental pat on the back, before turning to destroy the rest of the robot monkeys. Only when she had destroyed the last one did she let herself peak back into the gym.

The three young sidekicks had somehow managed to destroy the robot, and had been joined by two other people, a dark skinned boy and a green girl with red hair. To Artemis, they looked as if they were…a team. A burning desire raced through her. She would give anything to be a part of something like that. She deflated almost immediately though. She would never even be considered for such a group. With connections to criminals in her immediate family, Artemis would be the last candidate to ever be on a team with a bunch of younger superheroes.

 _Get your head out of Wonderland, Alice_ , she thought bitterly, collapsing her bow.

She hid out of sight until the group of 5 was gone, before fading into the shadows.


	2. Teammate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She was getting tired of his slights. He needed to deal with the fact that she was his teammate now, not Red Arrow. "Whatever, Baywatch," she said, considering the matter closed. "I'm here to stay."

Chapter Two: Teammate

When Green Arrow brought her to the Cave to meet the Team for the first time, Artemis couldn't decide whether she was more excited or nervous. Of course, she made sure that she was as cool as a cucumber on the outside, but inside she was just about ready to burst. What was the Team like? Would they like her? Would she like them? Would she measure up to their skills? Afterall, she was still relatively new to this superhero thing. Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad had been doing this for years.

 _Stop_ , she told herself.  _You are awesome. Stop psyching yourself out._  She was a great archer, and she knew she would be a great addition to the Team. They would be lucky to have her in fact! Green Arrow himself had even been impressed with her skills. Uncle Ollie, as he had told her to call him to keep with their cover story, had assured her that she would fit perfectly with the Team. If she was truthful with herself, maybe she was only nervous about meeting one person: Kid Flash.

She felt so stupid for having the little crush she had on him, but she can't help it. Realistically, she knows that if they're going to be teammates now, she's going to have to get over it. That didn't stop the girly girl part of her, the part that only makes itself known once every blue moon, from making sure that she looked her absolute best today. All through her first introductions to the team, she was looking for him. His signature bright red hair was nowhere to be found, however, and Artemis struggled to keep the disappointment off her face as she met the leader of the team, Aqualad.

"Recognized: Kid Flash, B03."

 _Be cool, Artemis. Be cool_ , she thought desperately, fighting the urge to smooth down her hair with her hand.

"The Wallman is here!" exclaimed the figure emerging from the zeta tubes, and she got her first look at her superhero idol. Instead of his customary yellow spandex, Kid Flash was dressed in civilian swim trunks and carrying a surprising amount of beach going supplies. "Let's get this party star—"

Artemis watching in a mix of horror and amusement as the young speedster tripped over his own two feet, dropping all of his beach things, and falling into a heap on the floor.

"—ted?" he finished weakly.

The kid had smothered his nose with suntan lotion and had a towel slung over his shoulders. This—this clumsy, beach bum—was Kid Flash? No way, there had to be some mistake. She decided to make her presence known.

"Wallman, huh?" she said, her voice just brimming with sarcasm. "Ah, love the uniform. What  _exactly_  are your powers?"

She watched as he picked himself up off the ground and eyed her uncertainly. His cheeks were stained red with embarrassment.

"Uh, who is this?" he asked his,  _their_ , teammates.

"Artemis, your new teammate," she helpfully supplied.

"Kid Flash," he shot back, taking off his sunglasses. It wasn't an introduction. It seemed like a challenge. "Never heard of you."

So it was him then. One look at his bright green eyes was all the confirmation she needed. Artemis scowled in disappointment. She wasn't quite sure what she had been expecting, but "The Wallman" (what did that even stand for anyway?), was definitely not it.

Green Arrow came to her rescue. "Uhm, she's my new protégé," he told them, resting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"W-what happened to your old one?" Kid Flash whined, and the expression on his face when he looked at her would have made a weaker person cry, but she was Artemis. Crying wasn't in her DNA.

And then of course, Speedy chose that exact moment to enter the Cave. Him and Green Arrow had their little spat and she only intervened when he brought her into it.

"Can she even use that bow?" he asked derisively.

"Yes, she can," she retorted, stepping right up to him.  _I'm probably a better shot then you are_ , she had to bite her tongue to keep from saying. Once she got started, there was no stopping her mouth.

"Who are you?" Kid Flash questioned from behind Speedy or Red Arrow, or whatever his stupid name was now.

"I'm his niece."

"She's my niece."

"Another niece?" came Robin, sounding skeptical.

Artemis turned her attention to him. He was the youngest member of the Team, and yet he seemed like he would be the one she would have to be the most careful with. She trusted the Batman to keep her secrets, but Robin wasn't the protégé of the World's Greatest Detective for nothing.

"But she is not your replacement," Aqualad said to Red Arrow. "We have always wanted you on the Team. And we have no quota on archers."

"And if we did, you know who'd we pick," Kid Flash was quick to add.

She was getting tired of his slights. He needed to deal with the fact that she was his teammate now, not Red Arrow. "Whatever, Baywatch," she said, considering the matter closed. "I'm here to stay."

She listened intently as Red Arrow described the nanobytes and the League of Shadows involvement with them. She was proud of herself for not even batting an eye when he said the name of the Shadows. When she thought about how close she had been to almost… _No, focus. Don't think about that._

"Perfect for extortion, manipulation, power broking," she listed, jumping into the conversation. "Yeah, sounds like the Shadows."

"Like you know anything about the Shadows," Kid Flash huffed.

She looked at him and said nothing.  _I know stories about the Shadows that would give you nightmares_ , she was bursting to say, but instead just smirked.

This seemed to infuriate him even more, which made Artemis feel something akin to satisfaction. "Who are you?" he asked again.

She turned back to Red Arrow, but tuned him and Green Arrow out. How could everything have gone so wrong, so quickly? When she had imagined meeting the Team, she hadn't expected them to welcome her with open arms right away, but she never would have envisioned such open hostility, especially from Kid Flash. He always seemed so friendly on the news. Always with a bright grin on his face, shaking hands with civilians, and kissing babies and all that crap that superheroes do. Maybe she was seeing the real Kid Flash now, the immature boy behind the superhero façade.

She couldn't help being disappointed that reality hadn't lived up to her imagination, but she wasn't about to let him or any of them stand in her way. She didn't care if they didn't like her. This wasn't freaking kindergarten. She wasn't there to make friends or play nice with all the other kids. She had come to help people, to help the League, and if they didn't like it, they knew where the door was.

As Red Arrow left the Cave in a huff, Artemis met Kid Flash's eyes. He gave her a harsh glare, which she returned before looking away. Ignoring the pang in her chest, she tried to focus on the task at hand. As far as she knew, they had a mission, and she would do anything within her power to make sure that they succeeded. And if she was able to prove to them that she deserved to be on the Team, so much the better.

* * *

When the mission was over, however, Artemis still felt like she had done nothing to prove that she had earned her spot on the Team. Sure, they had protected Dr. Roquette—to an extent; Artemis was sure the scientist wouldn't be hiring their security services again anytime soon—and they had destroyed the nanobyte technology, but Artemis felt like a failure. The shock of seeing her sister again after 6 years, and finding out that her sister was the assassin they were trying to stop nonetheless, had severely impeded her actions and clouded her judgment. Jade was working for the Shadows, just like their father had always planned, and yet Artemis couldn't understand why. Her sister had left their family in an effort to get away from their father and the way of life he had in store for them. So how had she been pulled back in?

"Are you all right, Artemis?" came the deep, calm voice of Aqualad to her right, startling her out of her thoughts.

"Uh, yeah," she said, trying to gather her wits about her. They were all exiting the bioship and slumping into the foyer of the Cave. "I'm just thinking about the mission."

"You did well today," he told her, giving her a soft smile.

"Thanks, Aqualad," she said, returning the gesture.

"The mission is over," he said. "You may call me by my civilian name, Kal'dur'ahm, or Kal'dur."

"Kal'dur," she said, testing it out. "Artemis is my real name, too."

"Wait, you're superhero name is the same as your real name?" Kid Flash interjected from behind her, causing her to stop walking. "That's real original."

"Who asked you, Flash boy?" she retorted.

"Kid. Flash. Seriously, how hard is that?"

Artemis scoffed. "So, what's  _your_  name, then,  _Kid Flash_?" she asked, trying to ignore the part of her that was desperate to know the name behind her once superhero idol.

"Hmph, I don't know if I trust you with my secret identity, yet," the speedster said, crossing his arms petulantly.

"His name is Wally," Robin supplied as he walked passed them.

"Dude! Not cool!"

Artemis struggled to contain her laughter. "Wally? You're name is Wally? Oh,  _the Wallman_. I get it now. What, did your parents have a Leave It to Beaver obsession or something?"

Kid Flash, Wally, seemed to be muttering death threats under his breath, and his ears had turned bright red. They were alone now, as everyone else had dispersed, either home or to their rooms in the Cave. Artemis couldn't help her laughter, but saw that it was making Wally more than a little embarrassed. He turned to go.

"Wait, wait," she said, taking a chance and grabbing his forearm. "I'm sorry. Wally is a great name. It suits you."

He narrowed his eyes at her, trying to gauge her sincerity. She must have passed the test because his expression softened. "I guess Artemis suits you too, both real and superhero name. Goddess of the hunt, and all that," he said. His eyes widened almost comically after a moment. "Not that I think you're a goddess or anything. Just, you know, the bow and arrow, and stuff."

"Don't burst a brain cell, there," she teased. "I get it. Anyway, I'd better be getting back home."

"Yeah, me too."

The both walked over to the zeta tubes. Before Artemis walked into the one that would take her back to Gotham, Wally called over to her.

"Hey, Artemis. Welcome to the Team."

Artemis smiled. "Thanks."

"Recognized: Kid Flash, B03."

"Recognized: Artemis, B07."

Maybe today hadn't gone so bad after all, she thought to herself as the zeta tube teleported her home.


	3. Replacement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things would have been a lot simpler if Roy had just joined the Team.

Chapter 3: Replacement

Wally West was not a happy camper. First of all, he was hungry. Starving in fact. The cafeteria at Keystone High School had served some sort of mystery meat that afternoon for lunch, and the only mystery that Wally found was how the school district was allowed to serve them such an abomination. It was a good thing he kept a large stash of snacks in his locker. Without a sizeable lunch though, his hunger became unbearable once his metabolism kicked in.

So, he had gone to the Cave in search of something to eat. It was just his luck because Megan had been trying out a new recipe and Wally had been more than happy to be a test subject. The way he figured it, the situation benefited him in two ways: one, free food; and two, he got to spend quality time with his favorite Martian.

The only thing that put a damper on this was the fact that the new girl, Artemis, or The Replacement, as Wally thought of her in his head, just so happened to drop in around the same time. And she made Wally…uncomfortable.

It wasn't that he hated her or anything. The only people he hated were villains and bullies. No, he didn't know why he felt the way he did. Their initial meeting had been filled with tension. Maybe if she hadn't called him out in front of his friends, three members of the League, and his crush, he wouldn't have become so defensive, things would be different, but she had.

Plus, and he didn't know why he was the only one that seemed upset about this, she was taking Spee—Red Arrow's spot on the Team! Sure, he had said he didn't want it, but Green Arrow hadn't given Wally, Kaldur, and Robin enough time to convince Roy to join before he went out and got himself a new protégé—a snarky, stubborn, amateur of a protégé at that. And sure, she was mildly attractive and had admittedly one of the hottest bods he'd ever seen that wasn't on a poster or in a magazine, but that was beside the point. Roy was one of his best friends, and as the expression goes: bros before, well, never mind.

Anyway, this girl would not leave him and Megan alone. He couldn't tell if she was doing it on purpose or not, but really there was no way she could have missed his nod to her and then to the door and his gesturing between himself and Miss M. That was a universal sign, wasn't it?

He was beginning to think she was choosing to ignore his hint. She smiled at him, not in a nice way either, in a creepy, challenging kind of way that gave him goosebumps, and turned her attention to Megan.

"What're you making there, M'gann?" the Replacement asked.

"Zucchini casserole!" the Martian girl exclaimed. "I've been trying to improve my cooking, and I found the recipe in a book that Wally gave me!"

"Wow," Artemis mocked subtly, shooting him another delightful smile. "That's so thoughtful of him."

"Thoughtful's my middle name," Wally replied smoothly, ignoring the blonde archer in favor of smiling at Megan.

"Your middle name is really Thoughtful?" Megan asked him, looking perplexed.

Wally blushed and shot a glare at Artemis who had unsuccessfully tried to cover her laugh with a cough. This was the second time the girl had embarrassed him in front of Megan. She was diabolical. Her presence was throwing him off his game.

"Uh, no, it's not really my middle name," Wally admitted. "It's an expression. You know, like 'Danger's my middle name.' Like that."

Megan smiled bashfully, playing with her vibrant red hair. "Oh, I'm afraid I don't know many Earth expressions yet."

"Don't worry," Artemis told her, smiling in her wicked way. "We'll teach you everything you need to know." She looked at Wally for a moment, before looked back at Megan. "Starting with the phrase, 'It takes two to tango.'"

Wally glared at her. She was deliberately making fun of him now. The little harpy knew what she was doing. He would not be beaten though.

"I don't know that one," Megan said uncertainly. "But I think the Tango is a dance, right?"

"Yeah," Wally said, unattentively, staring Artemis down. To her credit, she didn't look away either, her grey glare super intense. "You know what phrase I like better though? 'Two's company and three's a crowd.'"

"I know that one!" Megan exclaimed brightly. She looked between them, noticing that they were staring at each other intently. "Did you two want to be left alone? Is that why you said that one?"

Wally jolted as if struck my lightning. "What? No way!" he all but yelled out.

Artemis snorted and crossed her arms. "As if," she sneered, looking in the opposite direction.

An awkward silence fell over them until it was thankfully interrupted by the timer on the oven.

"Hopefully this will come out better than my other dishes have," Megan said, using her powers to take the casserole out. She set it on the counter and Wally sidled up to her side, trying not to drool. His stomach growled loudly.

"Mmm, smells delicious, babe," he said, taking a deep breath. "Can't wait to taste it—"

"Kid Flash," Red Tornado's robotic voice sounded over the Cave's intercom. "The Flash called and requires your assistance. Report to Central City via zeta tube immediatey."

"Aww, man," Wally whined, looking longingly at the casserole.

"Bad luck there, Wall-man," Artemis teased in that tone he was beginning to despise. "Don't worry, we'll save a plate for you."

Wally narrowed his eyes at her. Joking about food was always a no-no in his eyes. He ignored her and turned to Megan.

"Well, duty calls, Megalicious," he told her regretfully. "Later, beautiful."

He blew her a kiss and would have walked straight past Artemis without saying anything, but he was a gentleman afterall.

"See you later, Replacement."

"Hopefully not, Kid Idiot."

He didn't even spare her a glare. Uncle Barry needed him, so he kicked his super speed into high gear and entered the zeta tube that would take him to Central City. He would have liked to say that his thoughts were on Megan's sweet face as he was teleported, but in his head all he saw was long blonde hair, two almond shaped eyes, and a pair of dark pink lips curved into a mischievous smile. She was diabolical. He would need to be careful around her.

Things would have been a lot simpler if Roy had just joined the Team.


	4. Scientist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Artemis had only been on the Team for a week and a half before it was rocked by its first death.
> 
> Set after Denial.

Artemis had only been on the Team for a week and a half before it was rocked by its first death. No, it hadn't been any of the team members, thank god, but Kent Nelson's death was hard for all of them to swallow. They had been deployed by Red Tornado to help him, and instead of bringing him back safe, they had brought back his body. The day of his funeral, it was apparent that no one was taking his death harder than Kid Flash.

Wally had been right there at his side when the old man's body had finally given out. He even admitted that he'd tried to revive Mr. Nelson using CPR but to no avail. Artemis felt for the guy. She ached to reassure him that Mr. Nelson's death was in no way his fault; after all, the man had been 106 years old. She just wasn't sure whether he'd accept it, coming from her. She definitely wasn't his favorite person at the moment after foiling his flirting attempts with Megan during the mission. She couldn't stand to see him moping about the Cave however. Not even Megan's snicker doodle cookies could get him out of his funk. So, Artemis waited until he was alone in the kitchen to try and snap him out of it.

"So, I guess you're a scientist, huh?" she asked, reaching into the fridge and grabbing the milk carton.

"What?" Wally asked, looking around to see who was interrupting his solitude.

"I asked you if you were a scientist," Artemis repeated, grabbing a glass and bringing it over to across where he was sitting. "You said on the mission that you recreated Flash's lab experiment."

"Yeah, that's how I became Kid Flash," Wally said, absentmindedly picking at the sandwich in front of him. Something was obviously wrong with him if he wasn't just inhaling it.

"That must have been pretty hard," Artemis prodded. She thought that if she could just get him to brag about himself, he might open up.

"What can I say, I'm a genius," Wally said, but without his usual gusto.

"Well, I know who I'll be bringing my biology homework to next time I need a tutor," Artemis joked. She took a large gulp of milk to hide her embarrassment.  _Oh god, I'm flirting with him. Stop it, Artemis, stop it! Just get to the point of the conversation._

Wally looked at her suspiciously. "Did Robin put you up to this?" he asked. "Did he tell you to come and try and make me feel better?"

"What? No!"

Wally sighed, pushing his plate away from him. "Everyone's been walking eggshells around me since the funeral this morning," he told her.

"Well, you've been looking a little depressed," Artemis pointed out. Her tactics weren't really working, so she decided to just go for the blunt approach. "You know, Wally, no one blames you for what happened to Mr. Nelson. There was nothing you could have done. He was old. These things happen."

Wally looked up at her and seemed like he was going to protest for second, but the words died in his throat. He looked back down at his half-eaten sandwich. "I know. If anything, it's magic's fault again."

_Oh here we go_ , Artemis thought, trying not to roll her eyes. She had heard enough of Wally's opinion on magic during the mission. At least he was finally talking about it though.

"Why do you think that?" she asked.

"If he hadn't had to exert all that effort to protect us from Klarion, maybe he wouldn't have been weakened so much," Wally explained.

Artemis was confused. "Wait, so are you saying you do believe in magic?" His hesitation was all the answer she needed, but she remembered his stubborn refusal to believe the other day in his souvenir room. "What changed between today and the other day?"

"I've had a couple days to think about what Mr. Nelson said. Right before I put the helmet on, he said to me, 'Have faith in what you can't explain. Believe in what you can no longer deny,'" Wally recited. He shrugged. "Yes, a lot of things can be explained by science, but there are some things that are just illogical, like magic. I'm not about to enroll at Hogwarts or anything, but his words stuck with me. All of them," he added softly and the look he gave her made her blush inexplicably.

She cleared her throat and downed the rest of her milk. Suddenly seeming to have a ravenous appetite, Wally devoured the rest of his sandwich in 3 large gulps.

"So, all these Harry Potter references," Artemis said after a few moment's silence. "You seem like a bit of a fan. Who's your favorite character?"

"Ron, obviously," Wally replied. "He's the man. Besides, us gingers have to stick together."

"Huh, I've always been more of a Hermione fan…"

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Well, the first couple chapters are very short, but they get longer as we go along. Basically this story is all of my headcanons for Wally and Artemis as a couple. You may not agree with them, but they are what they are. :)


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